NYK to Modify Tugboat to Ammonia Fuel at Keihin Dock Co.
NYK finalized a contract with Keihin Dock Co., Ltd., an NYK Group company, to modify a tugboat to ammonia-fuel specifications. Sakigake, a tugboat currently fueled by liquefied natural gas (LNG) and operated in Tokyo Bay by NYK Group company Shin-Nippon Kaiyosha Corporation will be converted to operate on ammonia fuel by a target completion year of 2024.
This R&D was initiated in October 2021 by NYK and IHI Power Systems Co., Ltd. (IPS) and adopted as part of the Green Innovation Fund project within Japan’s New Energy and Industrial Technology Development Organization (NEDO) for the development of vessels equipped with a domestically produced ammonia-fueled engine.
In the development process, there were various design challenges in using ammonia as fuel, but the two companies overcame these challenges without changing the size of the conventional tugboat and received Approval in Principle (AiP) from Nippon Kaiji Kyokai (ClassNK) in July 2022.
NYK will begin modification in fiscal 2023 with the aim of realizing demonstration operations in the port of Yokohama in fiscal 2024.
Sakigake Main Particulars
Length overall: 37.2m
Breadth: 10.2m
Molded depth: 4.4m
Gross tonnage: 272 tons
Shipowner: NYK
Flag: Japan